Flames Intertwining (Katsuki Bakugou Love Story)

UA Sports Festival: Going Overboard

"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game," boomed Present Mic, "But before that, there's good news for all you who didn't make to the finals! This is just a sports festival! So we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in, too! We've even brought real cheerleaders from America to liven things up! Huh? What's the matter, Class A? What kind of fan service is that?" All eyes turned on the girls, including me, who wore the same cheerleading outfit as the American girls. My eyebrows twitched in frustration, narrowing my eyes at Mineta and Kaminari.
"Mineta! Kaminari! You tricked us, didn't you?!" yelled Yaoyorozu, embarrassed as much as we all were. She was referring to when the two of them told us that we had to dress up, too, but they clearly did that so our bodies could be shown more. Yaoyorozu fell to her knees in defeat. "Why am I always caught up in Mineta's schemes?" she sighed, and I put a shaking hand on her shoulder.
"I-it's fine," I said, shaking with embarrassment and anger. My eyes fell on the two blushing boys, lighting a flame in my palm. "I'll make them pay after the festival," I grumbled, making the two perverts shake a little with nervousness.
"Well, there's still time before the finals," said Hagakura, waving her arms, "and it'd be a pain if things got tense. It's fine! Let's do it!" Mine and Jiro's eyes widened, almost shocked that Hagakura had even suggested this.
"Toru, you like this, huh?" said Tsu. I sighed in defeat, but gave a small smile to Hagakura, and stood up with the rest of the girls.
"All right, everyone!" shouted Present Mic, "let's have fun competing in the recreational games! When that's over, the sixteen from the four games that made it to the final round will duke it out tournament style, one-on-one!" All the teams who took part in the cavalry battles stood together, excited about the final round. One-on-one, huh? Looks like me and Shouto's plan wasn't going to work after all. At least I would get to stand out on my own a little more, showing off what I could do, but I became slightly worried if I began to overwork myself and couldn't use Shouto's ice, and I got even more worried if we ended up fighting each other.
"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket," said Midnight on her stage, pulling up a box, "once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games and then start! The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength. Now, from the first place team-"
"Um, excuse me," interrupted Ojiro, raising his hand, "I'm withdrawing." A couple of gasps erupted in our class.
"Ojiro, why?" exclaimed Midoriya.
"This is a rare chance for pros to see you!" exclaimed Iida.
"I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until almost the end," he replied, almost in a whisper, "I think it was that guy's Quirk." He glanced at a guy with purple hair, and Midoriya followed his gaze. "I know that this is a great chance, and that it's foolish to waste it, but, everyone here competed by giving it their all! I can't be up there with everyone without knowing what really happened!"
"You're worrying too much," reassured Hagakura, waving her arms around, "you should just make sure you produce results in the finals!"
"If you're gonna say that, I didn't do anything either," reassured Ashido.
"That's not it," said Ojiro, putting his hand on his face, "I'm talking about my pride here. I can't... Also, why are you guys wearing cheerleading outfits?" I struck a nerve in my temple, while the other girls gulped in embarrassment. Another guy from Class B stood up for the same reason, leaving Kirishima almost crying by how 'manly' they were being.
"Youthful talk like that is something I like!" Midnight yelled with a smile, "Shoda! Ojiro! I accept your withdrawal! In that case, we'll have to move up two people from the fifth place cavalry battle team..."
"If that's what's going to happen," said a girl with orange hair, "then rather than us, who barely did anything during the cavalry battle, it should be them, right?" she said, gesturing to the guy who stood up to Bakugou in the hallway, and a girl with green hair. "The ones who fought to the end and stayed in the top, Team Tetsutetsu, right?"
"Kendo," said the guy with silver hair.
"This isn't collusion or anything," said Kendo, "it just makes sense."
"Y-you guys...!" yelled the silver hair guy, while the green haired girl smiled warmly at her classmate.
"And so, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki have moved up to make sixteen," continued Midnight, "this is the basket based on the results of the drawing!" We glanced up as the screen changed, showing us who we'd be competing against. I was against the green haired girl, I'm guessing her name was Shiozaki. I noticed Shouto was against Sero, but if he won, then he might be fighting against Midoriya. I glanced at him. He seemed to be concentrating hard at the screen, figuring out his move.
"Huh? Uraraka?" growled Bakugou, and I peered at him, but saw Uraraka let out a squeal like she was completely afraid of facing him. I let out a small smile, feeling a little sorry for her. I gave her the thumbs up, trying to reassure her. She gave me the thumbs up, but her hands were shaking so much that it looked like Kaminari and Iida mixed together. As the recreational took place, I reluctantly gathered with the girls, cheering our class on. I felt Shouto's eyes of disappointment fall on me, but I felt like I was going to get made fun of when we got home. I then felt Bakugou's eyes fall on me. I glanced at him, and saw his cheeks turn bright red. Mine ended up turning the same colour as he gave me a small smirk while looking at me up and down. I looked away, embarrassed but because my heart was pounding hard. What's with him today? Throughout the recreational games, my mind was set on one thing. Stand out. Show everyone that you can be useful. Bakugou's words circled my head. I'm not under anyone's shadow. Show people that I can be strong.